Hi All,
A few months back, I bought a set of Spyderco ceramic stones from Highland Hardware. The first few times I used them, I was unimpressed. The instructions said to use them dry. I checked Google, and found others complaining that they load up very quickly. I found that the fine stone loaded up so quickly, that I was just burnishing the metal by rubbing it against the metal loaded into the stone. The ultrafine stone usually ended up dulling the edge by this same effect. So I plodded along by honing one bevel, then scrubbing the stones before reusing. They were useless for lapping backs.
This got old quick, so in frustration, I flooded the stones with water, and lo and behold, they cut very well, and the suface tension of the water floated all the metal away. I was able to work at an acceptable rate by keeping the stones VERY wet.
Most other Google posts were complaints about the stones not being flat. No issue here, they are all flat. Anybody else using these for edge tools?
Thanks, Paul.
p.s. the medium grit can survive a 3 foot drop onto a tile floor. DAMHIKT.